NRA, NASCAR, Fox: The Redneck Gods Are Smiling

File this one under “Good Luck, Pal”: A U.S. senator from Connecticut has asked the Fox Network’s famously right-wing chief exec Rupert Murdoch to cancel his channel’s broadcast of tomorrow night’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race, which of course happens at Fort Worth’s own Texas Motor Speedway. That race is sponsored by the NRA, and Sen. Chris Murphy says it would be unfair to give so much free publicity to Wayne LaPierre’s ultra-powerful gun rights lobby while U.S. senators debate new gun control legislation.

I’m 100% sympathetic to the cause of tougher gun restrictions in this country. It boggles my mind that passing a federal assault weapons ban is considered as likely as discovering a herd of unicorns grazing on the National Mall. These things just don’t happen in the reality-based world, apparently.

But I also can’t get too worked up over the unholy union of Fox, the NRA, and NASCAR. Whether you like them or not, there’s some kind of natural law –– call it a white-trash gravitational pull –– that unites these like-minded organizations into a perfect trinity. They belong together like vienna sausage, white bread, and Miracle Whip. Or meth, Mountain Dew, and tooth decay. Or Hank Williams Jr., drunken groupies, and penicillin. Politics aside, can anyone seriously challenge the Cheeto-stained harmony of these institutions? It’s a trio that just feels right at a gut level.

8 COMMENTS

Why is NASCAR’s Tony Stewart’s foundation for disabled children supporting a prison program led by a convicted child killer?
ICAN is a prison dog-training program Stewart supports and high-profile child killer Melinda Loveless is an active dog trainer there. Melinda masterminded the 1992 kidnapping, 10 hr torture, and murder (burned alive) of 12-yr-old Shanda Sharer.
Search: “Shanda Sharer”
Search: “ICAN”+”Melinda Loveless”
Fellow inmate and assisted murderer of Shanda, Hope Rippey was in the ICAN program and released early under suspicious circumstances.
Search: “Hope Rippey”+”Early Release”

ICAN’s mission statement is, “To qualify for the program, offenders must have a background clear of violent behavior.”
So why is Melinda, and Hope before her in this program? Indiana prisons are overflowing with non-violent offenders, so better choices are available.

There is no way Tony does not know about Melinda and Hope with his active support and participation with this prison program.
Stewart should pull his support of ICAN until Melinda is removed from the ICAN program as their mission statement requires.

This article makes no sense and jimmy fowler is an idiot. He basically backed chris murphys statement which said its unfair for the NRA to advertise while the senators stricken gun laws. So with that logic its ok to do something if its ur side but if they believe differently than u, u can’t say anything. Are u kidding me.

Jimmy Fowler is not an idiot. He correctly predicted the “unholy union” and “perfect trinity” and “white trash gravitational pull” of FOX and NASCAR and the NRA joining togther would have some consequences, and thus it came to pass. A man used a gun to kill himself in the infield of TMS late in the race. The old adage still applies: “Guns don’t just kill people, people kill people, and some people kill themselves with a gun at an event sponsored by a gun group.”

Don’t you find this whole thing extremely ironic?
The NRA promotes the rights of citizens to bear arms, their rights as protected under the constitution, and how firearms are an essential part of American life to insure safety for the populace.
They pay big money to sponsor a NASCAR race to help get that message out.
A guy gets drunk in the infield and after an argument uses a gun to blow his brains out.
I guess the message I took from the race wasn’t what the NRA paid for. It was quite the opposite.

Since 1994, Fort Worth Weekly has provided a vibrant alternative to North Texas’ often-timid mainstream media outlets by offering incisive, irreverent reportage that keeps readers well informed and the powers-that-be worried.